Who is the least progressive Democratic candidate for the presidential nomination?

[Czolgosz]

With Vilsack dropping out and Bayh choosing to skip the race, who's the least progressive candidate still in the running?

Is it Hillary, Richardson, or some other candidate?

[On the Road]

1. Maybe Mike Gravel?

[WI_DEM]

26. actually Gravel is pretty liberal

[Czolgosz]

27. Gravel wants to institute a national sales tax. That makes him a non-starter for me. Plus, he's pro-

voucher which I see as a great threat to public education finding.

He's an interesting guy with great things to say about the war, but I just can't go along with the national sales tax - it's way too regressive.

[On the Road]

29. Gravel is a Strange Mixture, from What I've Heard

I was going on his positions on taxes and social security, which are pretty much outside the Democratic mainstream.

[Czolgosz]

31. Gravel has more in common with Ron Paul (R-TX) than with some Democrats

They both hate the war, hate the Tax Code, wish to privatize some governmental services.

Gravel is an interesting guy who leans libertarian on many issues, but I think he's all over the map ideologically.

[merh]

2. IMHO, it's a tie between Hillary and Richardson.

Which is really no surprise, Hillary was a DINO in Hillary's DINO administration.

[n2doc]

7. Biden? Depends on the issue you choose...

Even Kucinich has a poor history in supporting Women's reproductive rights. There is no "perfect" progressive. You have to pick what areas are most important to you when looking at who to vote for.

[merh]

19. true

But if you look at Richardson's past, what he did after leaving the Clinton WH and going back into the private sector, you can see that he was buddies with the energy corporations serving on the boards of at least two of the larger corps.

It's not just about what they do publicly (what they allow to be made public), you have to look behind the scenes.

[cyclezealot]

20. we all have epiphany. Kucinich did his

He was raised Catholic. We all evolve. He was raised with like 7 brothers/sisters. His sisters finally straightened him out. I have heard him speak on this issue. Kucinich is like George Washington, he can't lie. No other candidate has said they would ask Supreme Court nominees if they would support choice. He says he would. He is your safest bet for choice. I heard his speech about choice. You should too before you make assumptions.

[Deep13]

11. HRC is not a DINO.

That's not fair. I don't like her IWR vote or the Clinton era's anti-regulation environment either. On the other hand, #42 vetoed the bankruptcy bill twice, vetoes restrictions on abortion, signed a tax hike into law that put the Federal government on sound financial footing, signed Kyoto, enforced labor and civil rights laws etc. etc. The attempt to make a national health care system was largely HRC's baby.

[merh]

16. Floating an opinon balloon on changing her stance on abortion

to see how it would affect her national efforts, was supportive of *'s war up to and until she announced her campaign and now she won't admit she was wrong. IMHO, Clinton was a DINO and his unholy union with Poppy makes me suspect of him and his wife. Why in god's green earth would he work with the godfather of the party that tried to ruin him?

She'd be better off if she had divorced Bill. It would have proved she was her own person and she did not agree with his lies (to her and the nation) and his disrespect for the nation. Clinging to him makes it look like she has no self-respect to many in the public, that she stays in the marriage for the political clout.

In your opinion she is not a DINO, in my opinion, she is.

[TheLeftyMom]

3. Guliani

No, seriously, he's got a lot of Democratic tendencies. I think he's the Pukes 'liberal' candidate, while Hillary is our more conservative candidate.

[derby378]

4. Hmmm...

[Lautremont]

5. I don't want to say exactly, so I'll just call her "Hillary C."

No, that's too obvious. How about "H. Clinton."

(pace Simpsons)

[derby378]

6. And just to keep it civil...

...here's a sleeping puppy. Awwww.

[redqueen]

8. Awwwwwww

:)

[Bucky]

44. In tribute to your adorable puppy picture, I offer the following images

Ha! Take that... and that... and THAT...!


YAH!! No puppy is a match for m-- uh oh...




"REVENGE!"

[Deep13]

9. I really don't know.

Especially since we might not all agree what constitutes "progressive." It is hard to think of HRC's vote on the IWR as progressive. I don't think there is anything reactionary about Richardson's support for private firearm ownership. Biden's bankruptcy bill vote is irksome, but it is one vote by a senator from a state heavily into banking. Dodd: don't really know much about him.

[AndyTiedye]

25. Biden Also Slipped the "Rave Act" Through

in the dead of night. In the conference committee. He attached it to the Amber bill,
which nobody could possibly vote against. This bypassed any debate or vote on the
measure itself in either house. When it had come up before, it had gone down as
Congress received tens of thousands of letters, faxes, and phone calls in opposition.

All that public input was but a minor annoyance to Biden. Biden doesn't dance,
and he doesn't think anyone else should either.

[bullimiami]

10. i dont know that obama and hillary differ that much on most 'progressive' issues.

hillary is more hawkish but on domestic? who knows.

[Czolgosz]

17. Well, there's the war. There is bankruptcy "reform." Obama supports judicial discretion for criminal

sentencing but HRC supports replacing discretion with mandatory jail time.

I think there is some daylight between Obama and HRC.

[dysfunctional press]

12. who's the most hard-core dlc'er..?

there's your answer.

[Roland99]

13. Coin toss between Biden and Cilnton

[Czolgosz]

18. How about Richardson as most closely tied to the DLC?

My Top 10 Problems with Richardson

1. Pro-NAFTA/Pro-CAFTA/Anti-Fair Trade;

2. Supported Vouchers for Private Schools (draining public school funding);

3. Shut down presidential recount despite suspicious circumstances;

4. Supported medical savings account approach to broken health care system;

5. Hawkish on military bases and homeland security;

6. Supports revenue reduction via tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy;

7. Supports giving churches access to federal funds to provide faith-based social services;

8. Has much praise for Bush's immigration plans;

9. Richardson is a favorite of the DLC; and

10. Weakness on Civil Rights (see below)



Richardson's Top 10 Civil Rights Weaknesses (So Many, I Need Another Top 10 List)

1. Richardson’s support for mandatory jail time, even for non-violent offenders;

2. Richardson’s support for the death penalty;

3. Richardson’s vote to abolish habeas corpus in death penalty appeals;

4. Richardson’s opposition to offering the option of life-without-parole as an alternative to the death penalty;

5. Richardson’s support for prosecuting minors as adults;

6. Richardson’s support for expanding the number of federal crimes punishable by death;

7. Richardson’s support for eliminating parole for anyone convicted of a violent crime;

8. Richardson’s support for eliminating automatic citizenship for all children born in the USA;

9. Richardson’s support for limiting access to our court system for people hurt by negligent hospitals; an

10. Richardson’s vote in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act against gay marriage.

[Deep13]

21. Do you have any sources for the 10 problems?

Frankly, most of the stuff on the "weaknesses" list is actually pretty reasonable once the facts are taken into account.

[Czolgosz]

22. Sure. Here:

Sources:

http://www.ontheissues.org/Bill_Richardson.htm

http://www.whereistand.com/BillRichardson/16327

http://vote-smart.org/npat.php?old=true&can_id=H2505103&npatform_id=11

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151631,00.html

[Deep13]

23. thanx

[Czolgosz]

24. I like Richardson. I want to see him in the next administration (maybe Secretary of State) but he's

too conservative for my personal taste as a top-of-the-ticket dream candidate.

[Roland99]

28. I'll have to look through those when I get a chance. I don't know much about him.

[bigtree]

35. So, This Thread Was Really An Attempt To Solicit Anti-Richardson Sentiments

why didn't you just post this list in a thread of it's own for your circular argument?

[Czolgosz]

38. It was to solicit issue oriented discussion of which candidates are the least progressive. If you

have some thoughts on why Richardson should NOT be considered the least progressive, please list them. If you think that Hillary or Biden or someone else is less progressive than Richardson, please feel free to explain why. You don't need an invitation to post in this thread.

[bigtree]

42. bull

it's a classic circular argument

[Czolgosz]

43. Can you identify why Hillary or Biden or Richardson aren't pushing the DLC/Repub-Lite boundary?

[blm]

14. Depends on your priorities. Anti-corruption and respect for open government would be such a change

that it would push this country to a greater level of progressivism than we have ever witnessed.

So, who is the lawmaker most interested in revealing government corruption and respecting open government?

That lawmaker would be the MOST progressive president for REAL - not just show.

[itsmesgd]

15. Hillary

She is just another part in the Bush-Clinton dynasty who have been ruling things since 1981.
26 years is enough.

[HamdenRice]

30. Joementum!

Trust me, he is so idiotically self-centered, delusional, and egotistical that I really expect him to run again in 2008, at least to position himself as a "moderating" VP nominee.

[sakabatou]

32. But he's independent

Right?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

33. Hillary - though Richardson is chummy with Hannity

which says a lot

[Czolgosz]

34. Hannity gives me the heebie jeebies. What makes you say Hannity and Richardson are chummy?

[bigtree]

41. Richardson on Hannity

here's one account of an appearance (a typical one in my view where Richardson basically gives his view. Nothing 'chummy' in any of the exchanges . . . http://www.newshounds.us/2006/10/12/another_clist_clintonblaming_north_korea_expert_on_hannity_colmes_ann_coulter.php



Last night, Governor Bill Richardson, ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration and negotiator with North Korea, defended the Clinton years on the show but he was followed by “expert” Ann Coulter.

Despite the supposedly serious nature of the situation with North Korea, that subject was delayed until the second half of the show. The first half was devoted to the plane crash that hit a condominium skyscraper in New York City. Still, North Korea did not have the rest of the show to itself. It shared the time with a GOP commercial deemed too “over the top” for television by the RNC (gleefully played in its entirety) and a recitation of election tips from the Colbert Report.

Richardson is a marvelous FOX News guest (why other Democrats can’t do as well as he, I’ll never know) but the fact of the matter is, the discussion remained about Clinton and there has yet to be a guest critical of Bush. Richardson made the sensible claim, “We shouldn’t get into this blame game. We should fix the problem.” He pointed out that Bush has been in office for six years “and what we should do is work together and proceed with bi-lateral negotiations with North Korea.”

Sean Hannity repeated his call to “re-arm the Japanese” who “have to develop their own nuclear deterrent,” which ignores the fact that Japanese have just said they don’t want to go nuclear, even in the face of this crisis. Or does he think we should make them?

You can watch the Richardson segment on the Hannity & Colmes website, where it appears with the “Cavuto mark,” “Is Clinton to blame for the North Korea nuke crisis?”

Hannity, always so quick to condemn the Democrats’ partisanship had no complaint about Coulter’s. In fact, he started in with his own distorted mistruths about Democrats, that Charles Rangel wants to raise taxes, Murtha wants to cut and run, etc.

[scarletwoman]

36. Hillary Clinton. Creature of the DLC corporatists and the Ruling Class.

I will NOT vote for her. Ever. Period.

[Czolgosz]

37. Are Biden or Richardson any different?

[scarletwoman]

40. Biden's a joke, a non-factor. I haven't researched Richardson. (nt)

[PhilipShore]

39. Hillary

:hide:

[Czolgosz]

45. There is a good substantive discussion of Obama's moderate/not-too-progress views in this DU thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=298091&mesg_id=298091

I wish Obama were more progressive, but at least he's left of Hillary, Richardson, and (generally) Biden.